Battle of the Drugstore Gel Polishes

Hello everyone, and welcome! I hope you got a chance to check out my most recent Spoonie Guide. It gives some good gift ideas, and some fun tips to help spruce up your space.

Today I thought I’d share a few nail polishes that can be found at the drugstore. They all claim to be as durable as UV gel polish, so I put them to the test. All of these polishes are super affordable and are cruelty free.

When I see ‘gel’ I think high shine and durability. Only one of the polishes I tried actually measured up. We’ll start off with my least favorite.

Kiss: Gel Strong – Sakura

I’m a fan of Kiss products. They make beautiful, comfortable lashes, and have a line of cruelty free lipsticks in any shade you can imagine. Since I like a lot of their items, I was expecting a lot from this polish. I picked up one of my favorite polish shades, a light pink called “Sakura”. This polish went on easily, and didn’t take very long to dry. The shine lived up to my expectations, but the polish seemed to stay rather soft. It never really dried down to that hard finish that I like and expect from UV gel polishes. Although this item will only cost you about $3, you might want to pass on this one. I just don’t feel like the durability lives up to its name.

L.A. Colors Color Craze Extreme Shine Gel Polish

L.A. Colors is another widely available drugstore brand that I’m really fond of. They create some unexpectedly quality eye shadows, and they always have really fun colors. The shade I chose was CNP703 Mademoiselle, which turned out to be the most flattering of the three shades I picked up. The shine was definitely there, but again, the durability just wasn’t up to my standards. My nails began to chip only three days into wear. That’s not great for a regular polish, much less one that is claiming to measure up to gel polishes. If you’re looking for some interesting colors, L.A. Colors gives you 47 to choose from, all only $3. And, as long as you’re not too worried about wear time, you’ll like these just fine.

Wet n’ Wild 1 Step Wonder Gel

If you’ve been around this blog for a little while, you know that Wet n’ Wild is hands down one of my favorite brands. There have been maybe two products from them that I haven’t like, so I figured this one would work for me.

I happened to pick the most unflattering (on me) of their shades in “Stay Classy”. It was slightly cooler-toned than I had expected. Despite the color, this was my favorite out of the three. The shine was there, it lasted at least 3 days longer than a regular polish would have, and the packaging is Spoonie friendly. Wet n’ Wild’s polishes have large, chunky square bottles that are easy to open. The brush is wide, making it easy to cover your nail in one swipe. At the time of this post, Wet n’ Wild has 27 beautifully wearable shades. This polish is the most expensive of the three, coming in at $4.99. Those extra couple dollars are definitely worth it, in my opinion. I’ll be picking up more of these shades to add some inexpensive, cruelty free colors to my collection.

Have you tried any of these gel polishes? What did you think of them? Which ones do you swear by? What are your favorite shades from the Wet n’ Wild Wonder Gel collection?

What are some other types of posts you’d like to see on the blog? Let me know! I love hearing from you.